[en] Diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia
(VAP) is based on non-specific clinical signs. Several
indicators have been tested in order to improve the accuracy
of VAP diagnosis. The quantification of clinical parameters
by using the clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS),
however, failed to improve the specificity of the diagnosis.
This was the same for all the biomarkers tested either in
the serum (procalcitonin, C-reactive protein) or in the bronchoalveolar
lavage (BAL) fluid [soluble triggering receptor
expressed on myeloid cells 1 (sTREM 1), elastin fibers,
endotoxin, pro-inflammatory cytokines, Clara cell protein
10]. The microscopic examination of endotracheal samples
alone, especially of the BAL fluid, may provide useful
information for the detection of infected cells. Thus, microbiology
is still needed.